Jasinda Wilder

I wasn't always in love with Colton Calloway; I was in love with his younger brother, Kyle, first. Kyle was my first one true love, my first in every way. Then, one stormy August night, he died, and the person I was died with him. Colton didn't teach me how to live. He didn't heal the pain. He didn't make it okay. He taught me how to hurt, how to not be okay, and, eventually, how to let go. Nell Hawthorne is in love with her life-long best friend, Kyle Calloway. Things are great, and they're in love, young, full of promise. Then Kyle dies in a tragic accident and Nell is forever changed. She meets Kyle's older brother Colton at the funeral, and there's a spark, but it's wrong and they both know it. The moment passes, and they both move on with life. A couple years later, they meet again in New York City, and Colton realizes that Nell has never really gotten over Kyle's death, and seems to be harboring a deeply rooted pain, something like guilt, perhaps. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but he can't help himself. Trust doesn't come easily for either of them, and they both have demons, Colton especially. Together, they learn the purpose of pain and the meaning of healing, and the importance of forgiveness.

Falling Into You

Anna Ureta

I know it’s taken me forever to get into Falling Into You even though I’ve had the book for some time now. Now that I have, I’m sad I waited so long. Jasinda Wilder’s books have this profound way of pulling you into the story and separating your world from the world in the book. Falling Into You is an immersive story about love and forgiveness, and just pages in it has me falling in love.
 
Nell Hawethorne and Kyle Calloway have been friends forever. Literally forever. Their birthdays are a few days apart, they grew up together, road bikes together, and went to school together. It’s not a surprise to their friends and family when they decide to start dating. Everything is going perfectly for the couple, until a horrible accident takes Kyle’s life too soon, leaving Nell empty and filled with regret.
 When Nell meets Kyle’s older brother Colton, who she’s only met briefly several times in her past, she notices that both of them are struggling with the loss and this spark of attraction they have for each other.
 Two years later, at a chance meeting, feelings resurface and Nell still hasn’t forgiven herself for Kyle’s death. Colton feels it’s his duty and responsibility to help her grieve and get over the loss before it kills her, while at the same time battling his growing feelings for her. Together they help each other, they heal, and eventually fall into each other.
 
There is a lot of intense emotion in this book. More than I realized. It’s so easy to get lost and get swept away by the happy moments and the utterly bad moments. There were more times than one I just wanted to put the book down and walk away from a minute, but at the same time there were moments when pain and nothing is all you can feel and like Nell you just have to keep reading and go through the motions. All you can do is feel for her after Kyle’s death. You want to comfort her, hug her, or tell her things are going to be alright and its natural to feel the way she does, but you know it really isn’t going to help. The feeling of her heartbreak is just too real for words.
 
I found Colton to be a really interesting and mysterious. He’s definitely secretive and hiding something from Nell, especially since he seems to know a lot about loss and grieving. It feels like he’s supportive of Nell’s actions (her drinking and wallowing in self-pity), and at the same time he’s just doing his best to cope in his own way. One thing I know is that when grieving it definitely helps to have someone with you. Not someone to tell you to feel better or that it’ll be easier. Someone who’s just there. Colton is exactly that for her. He’s her rock, her support, and I think in a way she’s his too.
 

“You can’t hold it in forever,” Colton said, apropos of nothing.
 “Yes, I can.” I had to.
 “You’ll go crazy. It’ll come out, one way or another.”
 “Better crazy than broken.” I wasn’t sure where that came from, hadn’t thought it or meant to say it.
 “You’re not broken. You’re hurting.”
 
The change in perspective isn’t as refreshing as you think it would be. Colton isn’t as hung up on Kyle as Nell is years after his brother’s death. That doesn’t mean he’s inconsiderate, he’s just moved on a lot faster than she has. Only when he sees her again do these feelings resurface. How he misses his brother and feelings he has for Nell that he can’t have or can’t explain.
 

“Then what do you think we were talking about?”
 “Us.”
 She pushes past me, tilts her head to the side and peels her hair free from the braid, kicking off her flip flops. “There is no us. There never was and never will be.” I don’t answer that, because she’s right. But so wrong. There will be an us. She just hasn’t seen it yet. She’ll resist it, because it’s so wrong on so many levels. I’m her dead boyfriend’s older brother. And she knows nothing about me. I’m bad for her. She’s underage, and I shouldn’t encourage her drinking. She’s obviously using Old Man Jack to cope, and I understand that all too well. But she’s still only twenty, which is just too young to be drinking like that, straight from the bottle like a jaded alcoholic.
 
Another thing about Colton or perhaps this story, is the surprising and instant attraction he has to Nell. I wish it was explained a little more, or just something more substantial than love at first sight. I’m sceptical, so as cute as it is I just don’t believe in it in real life.
 

This is bad.
 I’m gonna end up in jail. I make it through the song, but barely. Kelly sends over a shot of Jameson with a waitress. I down it, nod at Kelly. She gives me a questioning thumbs-up? Am I good? I nod, lying.
 I’m not good. I’m really, really bad. I’m gonna start a fight tonight. I’m gonna get hurt, and Nell is gonna be pissed and Kelly is gonna be pissed.
 I should leave. I owe Nell nothing. I don’t own her. I don’t have a claim on her. Sure, she never said anything about a boyfriend, but then, we didn’t really talk much, and I didn’t ask. It didn’t cross my mind.
 
I almost feel bad for saying this, maybe because I haven’t been in love or lost someone so precious, maybe because I’m heartless or cynical about everything, but Nell does A LOT of crying, running away, and blaming of herself. It’s a bit annoying. But again that’s because I really can’t understand her pain and that isn’t anyone’s fault. For me, the emotion just falls through. I get that she blames herself for Kyle’s death, and we all go through the WHAT IF motions in our head, but wasting our time thinking about these moments isn’t going to bring our loved ones back, and it isn’t going to make you feel better about yourself. I’m sure it’s hard to move on when you feel as if you’re at fault, but two years is an awfully long time. I wouldn’t let my best friend grieve for that long and I don’t think Nell should either.
 
Despite how Nell and Colton constantly come up with ways that they SHOULDN’T be together, let me just saying CHAPTER 9 is….HAWWWWWWTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like I had to stop reading and put the book down for a bit HAWT. And then it goes from hotter than sin to really….really super serious…. Like you-could-hear-a-pin-drop-please-someone-hold-me serious. And then you know Colton has been through a lot trying to face his own demons.
 
Making it to the end I feel this overwhelming sense of calm….despite the fact that my heart is still thumping from the pain and the love these two have for each other. Falling Into You is beautifully romantic as well as well as beautifully heartbreaking. A wonderful and definite must read, from start to finish.
 
4/5 Hearts of Love

Read more of my reviews at http://wwww.akiikomorireading.com

Falling into Us

I don’t know if this is the right phrase to use in a situation like this but, MAN that was SOME SERIOUS LOVE STORY. I haven’t read any of Nickolas Spark’s white-people-almost-kissing books, but I have seen the movies and those are pretty serious. I think if Falling Into Us was made into a movie it might just TOP his. It’s the kind of love story you want, the loyalty, the trust, and the happily ever after with the person who completes you.

After Jason Dorsey asks Nell out on a date and is ‘accidentally’ stood up, she suggests he ask her best friend Becca de Rosa out instead. Reluctant at first, Becca agrees, and one date turns into the beginning of a long, warm, heartfelt relationship that soon spirals into true love. But with all the good, the warmth and the love in their lives there will be challenges to face that the couple has to overcome together if they want to spend forever with each other.

Jason Dorsey isn’t what I pictured him to be when I read Falling Into You. For some reason I pictured him to be a sort of jerky guy, even though all the signs pointed to him being really nice. I’m really HAPPY to be proven wrong in Falling Into Us, seeing that Jason is an all-around great guy, smart, athletic, ambitious, sweet and thoughtful when he can be. It’s just to bad his dad pushes him too hard. I mean it’s good that his dad pushes him to be his best, but I wish it was in a more POSITIVE manner rather than resorting to belittling and violence… If you catch my drift.

Becca de Rose is…a difficult girl. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Her life revolves around school and the bs rules her father has for her. Overprotective and controlling much? Her older brother Benjamin tells her she’s missing out on her childhood, on life and one day look back and regret her decisions. But she’s conservative and determined for a good reason. She KNOWS what she wants to do with her life isn’t cheap and by being a good/perfect daughter, she knows her father will help to support her. Essentially it’s a means to an end. But aside from all that, Becca is a sweet girl, who isn’t afraid to say what’s on her mind (except to her father), sort of secretive, and has a wonderfully big heart.

What I get from Falling Into Us is a beautiful and THOROUGH, well thought out love story. Its slow paced, and I mean EXTREMELY, but there’s so much detail. So much background story in comparison to Falling Into You where it was all about the healing and the forgiveness. Throughout most of the book I was just sitting there waiting for something really bad to happen. The anticipation basically kills you, making you paranoid as to whether or not something bad is going to happen, and it scared the crap out of me.

One thing I will say about Jasinda Wilder’s books and her writing is that she never fails to deliver HOT AND STEAMY scenes. I felt like the sexy scenes were so much longer than in Falling Into You and just way more in depth. Or that could just be me. Reading the scenes I wish I could have a piece of that….sexy…naughty…hot…romantic action…sigh.

Yeah my baby was a screamer. I loved it. It was so unlike her, unlike the way she was all the rest of the time. She was normally demure and quiet and withdrawn, but once I got her clothes off and her juices flowing, she lost all her inhibitions.

Falling Into Us goes past where Falling Into You ended. Everyone gets their happy ending with some surprises…
I would tell you but spoilers haha. This book was just undeniable cute, sweet, and powerful. Demonstrating what real and true love is actually like. I would highly, highly, recommend this book, and let Jason and Becca show how their love and devotion for each can, and will conquer anything.

4/5 Hearts of Love

Ana Matti

Yesenia Vargas

It was increasingly difficult to put this book down. I read lots of NA but I appreciated that this story isn't typical. It also deals with grief, cutting, making it on your own, and first and second love. I also adored the incorporation of songs in this book. Many times I almost cried for what was happening. Sometimes I rolled my eyes because the angst was a bit much. However, i had been eyeing this book for a while because it looked so darn good. I finally got it with a gift card slash when it went on sale. I have to say that it didn't disappoint. It's a unique and sad story with a good ending, realistic and loveable characters. Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy NA or romance.

Tanya 

This book was very sweet, it was the dream relationship. Dating all throughout HS going on to the same college together & getting married in the end.

The difference in this is that they went through a lot of loss & tragedy together from her parents not approving to Jason being abused at home before getting to that point.

There are a couple curve balls thrown our way in Jason & Beccas story, you can’t help but to love them both.

It’s very emotional, the story takes you through a lot of different stages in Nells life to get to the point of being okay after Kyles death. Losing your first love, Bestfriend & boyfriend all in one is something traumatic nobody should ever go through but Nell did. 

Strangely enough it’s Kyles older brother Colton who helps her pick up the pieces. Jasinda does a wonderful job at developing the characters in the book & helps us to fall in love with Colt despite him being kyles brother. The hot & steamy scenes leave nothing to your imagination & are “chefs kiss” perfect. 

Open your mind to what could happen in this book & just go with it, you won’t regret reading it, and you will 100% be addicted.

"Nell Hawthorne is in love with her life-long best friend, Kyle Calloway. Their young love is invincible and life is full of promise; then one night Kyle dies suddenly in a tragic accident and Nell is forever changed. She meets Kyle's older brother Colton for the first time at the funeral. They both struggle to move on with life as best they can. Years later, they meet again in New York City, and Colton realizes that Nell has never really gotten over Kyle's death. She seems to be harboring a deeply rooted pain, a heavy weight of guilt and regret. He knows he shouldn't get involved, but he can't help himself. Trust doesn't come easily for either of them, and they both have demons. Together, they learn the purpose of pain and the meaning of healing, and the importance of forgiveness"--Page 2 of cover.

Rebecca Browne

I showed this book to my sixth year ENGLISH TEACHER before realising what kind of book it was 😭 (This was back in 2014, but it still haunts me)

Chelsea Bates

Oh my. Happiness. Friendship. Love. Loss. Devastation. Passion. Confusion. Hope. Love. 

This are just a few of the emotions I tumbled through while reading this book. This is just amazing. This book has lingered with me since I finished it a couple days ago. Book hangover. 

"Little did I know that choice would soon be stripped away from me." 

Nell and Kyle, childhood best friends. They were each others first for everything. Starting from learning to ride bikes to falling in love to giving up everything to each other. I fell in love with Nell and Kyle. They were perfect for each other. Their relationship was fun and loving. But just as you fall in love with them being in love, Kyle is torn away from Nell in a crazy turn of events. Kyle dies and Nell is left behind devastated and lost. 

"I wouldn't cry from the pain in my heart, because that wouldn't fade. It only grew heavier and harder and sharper with every passing minute, hour, day" 

"I wanted to cry, to scream, to sob. But I couldn't. because if I did, I'd never stop. Never never. There would only be an ocean of tears. Hot heart-blood leaked from my face. From my eyes and my nose and my mouth. Not tears, because those would never stop. That was just liquid heartbreak seeping from my pores. The mountain of pressure, the weight of grief and guild...it was all I could feel. It was all I would ever feel. I knew that. I knew, too, that I would learn to be normal once again, someday. To live, to be, to seem okay. Okay would only ever be skin deep, though." 

In comes Colton Calloway. Kyle's brother. Few years down the line, Nell and Colton run into each other on the streets of New York. It's yet another instant connection, but this is nothing like what Nell had with Kyle. With Colton an unknown passion breaks out and a new form of love and relationship forms. They both have troubled pasts and they both have trouble pushing past those pasts. Together they want to work through this. 

"Compassion and pity are not the same: Pity is looking down on someone, feeling sorry for them and offering nothing; compassion is seeing their pain and offering them understanding." 

You can see how Colton and Nell are made for each other. I can't even express the need for you to experience this book. Page after page you don't know what's going to happen. The passion and love jump off the page and the experience is like none other. 


"He doesn't fix me, doesn't heal me. He just makes life worthwhile. He helps me remember to breathe, shoes me how to smile again. He kisses me, and I can forget the pain, forget the urges I still have to cute for the pain that erases the emotions."

Kinsey

✮✮✮✮4 1/2 Drowning in your Depths Stars✮✮✮✮




  
    “I’m not just falling in love with you, Nell. I’m falling into you. You’re an ocean, and I’m falling in, drowning in the depths of who you are. Like you said, it’s scary in a way, but it’s also the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. You are the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.” 
  


Wow, I loved this book. I felt so many emotions while reading it. This is one of those books, that even if you never cry while reading, this will make you cry. It's just so heartbreaking. I felt Kyle and Nell's love. Kyle was her best friend, first love...and then he was gone. The pain she goes through, the grief, the self inflected injuries, it's just so believable. I felt everything she felt, experienced everything she did with her love for Kyle. His death was very hard for me to read. The images in your head of his death is one of the 
  hardest things I've ever read
, it was so disturbing to me. So incredibly heart-wrenching. I was skeptical if I could get into a romance with Nell and Colton at first cause I loved Kyle so much!


  
    “And now we’re learning how to fall in love together. I don’t care what any one else says. I love you. I’ll always love you, no matter what happens with us in the future. I love you now and
forever. - Kyle” 
  


Colton..I loved Colton as well. I don't know if I loved him more than Kyle to be honest, I think I loved them equally because they had such different personalities, but you fell in love with them both just like Nell. I loved his protectiveness, love, and care for Nelly. I really felt his love for her..not to mention he was completely sexy, and I wanted to jump him! 



  
    “You bite your lip, and I want to take that lip into my mouth and suck on it like popsicle. I want to lick your lips and bite them and kiss you until you're fucking lost and gasping and puddled on the floor.” Well...shit. I want that.” 
  



  Storyline:
 I loved the idea of this story.The sadness of a first love literally dying and having to move on from that, when all you want to do is die right along with your loved one. It sucked me in and I hardly put it down. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars were for a couple of reasons. 


  Abrupt Ending:
 I thought the ending was kinda weird. I didn't understand why they ended it so fast. There was no talk with Colton's father about why he was the way he was. Talking about his "disability". I felt like there should have been a man to man. We never had a conversation between Nell and her parents either. The reason she goes home at the end of the book felt like a filler, and like it didn't have a purpose, or if the author wanted to go down that lane then at least give us another 50 pages to resolve some issues. It was very unresolved to me. Idk...


  Romance:
 I felt the romance between Kyle and Nell. I did feel the romance between Nell and Colton, but I just wish things went down a little differently with them. There wasn't a whole lot of romance between them in this book. I would have liked to see them have an actual relationship. It was mostly them just dealing with grief together, no going out,or having dinner, getting to know each other. Also, is Colt ever gonna (view spoiler)[do something about a career in music? Do they end up together forever? (hide spoiler)].There was just so much more she could have written. I don't know if that means she is gonna write a sequel or what...I guess we'll find out. 

I'm being harsh so I'm just gonna tell you to go out and buy this book. Overall, I really loved it. I mean really. It was fantastic and will stick with me for years to come. It's a sad book, so be prepared to not be jumping for joy during it. It's painful and makes you cry, makes you depressed with life for awhile, wondering at life's mysteries... anyway, hope you all enjoy it :)


  
    “… when you feel that kind of all-consuming need for someone, a person you’d do fucking anything for, no matter what? They’re in your fucking skin, in your soul, like the essence of who they are is imprinted on you so completely like the very air you breathe… That’s love.” 
  

Quoting Jasinda Wilder here:
“This book is for anyone who has ever lost a loved one, for anyone who has woken up crying and gone to bed the same way, for anyone who has had to learn that it’s okay to not be okay. Surviving isn’t strength, it’s continuing to breathe one day at a time; strength is learning to live despite the pain.” 

*****I would recommend this novel to others*****

“We understand each other, Nelly. We’ve both lost someone we love. We both have scars and regrets and anger. We can do this together.”
 
 

  “I’m not just falling in love with you, Nell. I’m falling into you. You’re an ocean, and I’m falling in, drowning in the depths of who you are. Like you said, it’s scary in a way, but it’s also the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. You are the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.”

 
It’s safe to say Falling Into You began my book obsession with Jasinda Wilder. The cover and short blurb on Goodreads instantly drew me to this book. I knew from the minute I started reading the book that it would wreck me. I just didn’t know to what extent.
 
Based on the blurb above, I assumed the book would begin after Kyle’s tragic accident. Boy, was I wrong. We were given the opportunity to watch Kyle and Nell’s relationship grow from friendship into love. It was the perfect high school romance: sweet and innocent love. They were a wonderful match. It all fell apart one stormy night after they had a fight. Kyle was killed in an accident, Nell was there and could do nothing to help him, and my heart broke for them both.
 
Enter Colton, Kyle’s older brother. He’s everything Kyle wasn’t. He’s everything Nell needs right then. Nell and Colton share the same self-destructive tendencies. They share a love of music. They share a passion that will help them get through their pasts. What originally began as a bond over grief at losing Kyle, quickly grew into something far different. Their relationship was not an innocent high school romance. It was intense, more mature, and centered around want and need. It was a different kind of love and it was incredible to read about it.
 
The characters in this book are really what drives the story. Jasinda writes characters you can’t help but feel passionate about. I loved Nell right from the start. Sure, she had issues, but she never fully broke. It would have been so easy to portray her as someone who needed a man to put her back together. That wasn’t the case. He was her protector when she needed it, but more than that, Colton helped Nell let go. He didn’t fix her. He pushed her out of her comfort zone, personally, sexually and otherwise. (And, OMG, the sexy scenes were really hot. Hawt, even.) He helped her recognize it was ok to not be “old Nell” anymore. The dynamic between them was so very passionate. It was powerful. They had both been through so much in their lives. Reading about them fighting their past and their demons together really made the book for me.
 
It’s hard to really put into words all this book made me feel. It was so very intense. It grabbed me, shook me a few times and made me feel all the feelings along the way. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone who enjoys New Adult lit. The sequel, Falling Into Us, was just as incredible – if not more so. But that’s a review for another day. :)

This review and more can be found on my blog.

Falling Into You

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